This Woman In An Audi Endangered Life Of A Pregnant Woman, Held Up Traffic, But Cops Let Her Go Scot-Free

Yes, because neither the Uttar Pradesh police nor the traffic police on duty know where exactly this incident occurred. They did not bother to record the names, numbers, or license details of any of the parties involved in the incident.

This is how it unfolded on 26th January, Republic Day, this year, according to eye witnesses, who include traffic policemen. While the nation celebrated at Rajpath, a different scene was unfolding at Sondha Chowk, a small, crowded intersection on the NH 58 close to Meerut city.

Between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. a woman was driving towards Meerut from Modinagar in a white Audi accompanied by another older woman. The Audi's license plate number is UP 15 BX 8888, as clearly seen in the video of this incident which has now gone viral.

The Audi driver, a young woman, got into an altercation with a man driving up from behind her in a hatchback at Sondha Chowk in Modinagar. According to Uttar Pradesh police officials and several traffic policemen posted at the location, the hatchback had brushed against the Audi while overtaking it. The result was a minor scratch on the Audi.

In the hatchback was a man who was driving his pregnant wife and a young son who is about four years old. They were all headed towards a hospital as the woman's delivery was due. The woman was writhing in pain while traffic was disrupted by the woman driving the Audi.

"The man was taking his wife for delivery and he was obviously in a hurry which probably led to a minor scratch on the car in front. But the woman driving the Audi got out and snatched his keys," says the traffic constable, who identified himself as Diwan, and was then on duty at the spot. He is now posted at Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar Extension.

Here is a video of the incident courtesy Gazabpost: 

Locals at the Sondha Chowk say traffic police and a huge crowd of locals tried to calm the Audi driving woman and convince her to return the keys, but she remained adamant. Some locals allege that the woman who stepped out of the Audi even slapped the hatchback’s owner.

"There can be a fine on the hatchback driver for traffic violations, if any, but she should not have snatched the keys," says Diwan.

As the clock ticked ever-faster for the pregnant woman, Diwan says he stopped an auto and offered to take her, her husband and their small child to their hospital in it. The family decided to leave their car than risk the woman's life.

"Even their small child, a very young boy, had started crying by then. So we sat him on his father's lap in the auto," says Diwan.

In the meantime, scores of locals including shop-keepers hearing the commotion had gathered at Sondha Chowk and pleaded with the Audi's driver, a young woman, for the keys. They say that a co-passenger in the Audi, an older woman, also pleaded with her for the pregnant woman’s sake.

Instead, the woman driving the Audi "threw" the keys on the highway. "If you see the video you feel that she had thrown away the keys. However, she was only pretending to have thrown them. Actually she still had them in her pocket and she wanted to drive off with them," says a local chemist at Sondha Chowk. He says that the Audi driver ultimately handed over the keys to him.

The locals were so angry with the Audi driver's attitude that even a week after the incident they recalled how she had to be threatened and coaxed. Some say the crowd roughed her up, even banged on her car in rage. However, entreaties and threats fell on deaf ears. For half an hour on that cold and rainy afternoon, she caused the traffic to back up on the highway.

Then, just as the family of three was about to set off in the auto, the keys were recovered. Now, the pregnant woman and her family stepped out of the auto, got back into their car, and drove off.

"Everybody was telling her that she should try and understand another woman's suffering; that the pregnant woman needed to get to the hospital urgently. But she would not listen," says the chemist.

"I remember the day very clearly. It was bad weather and the pregnant woman was almost fighting for her life," says another passer-by at Sondha Chowk who witnessed the scene and was part of the crowd that tried to get the keys back.

The surprising thing is that all along the highway from Modinagar to Meerut, many had heard of this incident and were outraged by it. Yet, it was virtually impossible to find the pregnant woman, despite a search in several maternity clinics nearby.

The Audi and its occupants also ‘disappeared’ -- solely because nobody bothered to jot down the details of the car. A video recording, now viral on social media, records the Audi’s number plates. Yet, the police and traffic police of Modinagar and around claim that nothing need be done because no formal complaint has been filed.

It is learnt that the Audi’s registration number is linked to an address in the Rajendrapuram colony on Mawana Road, Meerut. The vehicle is registered in the name of an "Ankit Wadhwa", who runs a finance company at Abu Lane in the same city. These details could not be independently verified. Both addresses, however, are prominent locations in Meerut city and easy to find. Yet, no such step has been taken.

Modinagar residents say somebody in the crowd had called 100, the police emergency number, from Sondha Chowk. However, the police feel the matter was "resolved" once both sides drove off. The traffic police on duty did not record the persons involved -- neither names, nor phone numbers, nor addresses, not even license details. “Our priority was to rush the woman to the hospital,” says Diwan, echoing what all other policemen said in Modinagar.

This is how a woman who restricted traffic on a national highway, endangering the life of a woman headed to a hospital, was able to drive off scot-free and is now hiding in plain sight.